The Royal Mummies

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James Harris and Edward Wente conducted an x-ray analysis of the New Kingdom royal mummies with the results published in their book X-ray Atlas of the Royal Mummies (Chicago: University of Chicago, 1980). Included in the work were cephalograms of Pharaohs of the XVII-XX Dynasties and their queens.

The angular measurements presented in tabular form in pp. 358-363 will be used here to compare the Pharaohs in craniofacial terms to tropical African types such as the Nubians. We will analyze all the data of the New Kingdom Pharaohs in terms of ANB (A point-nasion-basion) and SN - Mand. Pl. (sella-nasion/gonion-menton).

Also, the three images available on Edward Wente's website, Who was Who among the Royal Mummies, will be analyzed in more details for their correspondence with Africans to the south.

Harris and Wente note the prevalence of dental prognathism among Nubians. Often this is combined with malocclusion. Similar incidence can be found in other African peoples. For example, one study found that a sample taken from the Kenya showed 61.3% of Maasai had diastema; 84% of Kikuyu had overbite and 99% had overjet; and 24% of Kalenjin had anterior open bite. (J. Hassanali, GP Pokhariyal, "Anterior tooth relations in Kenyan Africans, Archives of Oral Biology 38 [Apr 1993] 337-42). Although these dental traits can often be acquired through habits like thumb-sucking, as noted by Harris and Wente, the high frequency in the royal mummies indicates a genetic origin as found in Africans.

Studies have shown that persons of African descent tend to have greater projection of the alveolar region as compared to the lower mouth. The difference in projection measured as ANB (A point-nasion-B point) and research on persons of African descent has shown ranges from 5.5 to 4.3. In comparison with Caucasians, the values were from about 1.5 to 2 times greater (see Alexander et al., 1978; Downs,1948; Fonseca et al.,1978; Steiner, 1959).

After studying all the data, particularly after analyzing the computerized ethcings, one can certainly see that the royal mummies displayed high frequencies of African traits shared with most Africans. Thus, the royal mummies display a strong southern affinity just like other ancient Egyptians of all classes studied by Cheikh Anta Diop, Larry Angel and Shomarqa Keita.

See the links below for the tables of data and results, or click on the detailed analysis of the three images from Who was Who among the Royal Mummies.

Tables of Data for New Kingdom Pharaohs

Tables of Data for New Kingdom Queens

Analysis of Computer-generated Itchings of Thutmose IV, Akhenaton and Amenhotep III(?)

Cranial shape of Three Pharaohs

Comparison with Modern Nilotic and South Saharan Peoples

Queen Nefertiti
From the website, The People of Amarna
http://www.malone.org/~jrodrigu/isis/intro.html

Report any problems to Paul Kekai Manansala at

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